Some News

An update about my studies, work prospects, and an upcoming conference

I have been very silent, of late, and will probably remain so for another week. That’s because in the space of just over five weeks, from late March to this coming Thursday, I’ll have given two talks, moderated a conference panel, defended my JSD dissertation, and flown to the antipodes and back. I hope I will have more breathing space, and blogging time, once this craziness subsides, which it will soon. Here, though, are a couple of highlights.

My dissertation defence took place last week, before a committee consisting of NYU professors John Ferejohn (my supervisor), Jeremy Waldron, and Lewis Kornhauser, to whom I am very grateful for having taken the time to read my work. They were a formidable group, and they had me work hard for it, but I survived. It’s not quite the end of the JSD road for me, because the program committee has to  review my dissertation and approve it, but I’m almost there.

As I’m preparing to turn the page (or the 250 pages) on the doctorate, I have also found out what I’ll be doing next. In the next weeks or months, assuming the visa paperwork can be handled in time, I’ll be moving to Auckland, New Zealand, to join the faculty of the AUT Law School as a lecturer. I am very grateful to the people who have made this possible, including of course AUT’s Dean, Charles Rickett. It’s a big move, but I am looking forward to the challenges and the opportunities that it will bring me.

Among other things, having secured an academic position means that I will be able to keep blogging. My posts might sometimes appear at strange times, what with a 16-hour time difference, but I’ll do my best to keep them coming. And while I’m sure there will more references to New Zealand law from now on ― even before I actually go there, as I try to catch up on the things I’ll soon be teaching ― I will try to mostly use this blog as a means of staying in touch with Canada, much like I did when I started it from New York City.

In the meantime, my whirlwind month will conclude with my giving a talk ― the “keynote,” in fact ― at the Courts & Politics Research Group Spring Workshop at the University of Guelph this Thursday. I’ll be presenting Benjamin Oliphant’s and my work on originalism in Canadian constitutional jurisprudence. The fun ― seriously, it looks like a great programme ― will take place in McKinnon 313 beginning at 8:45AM, and I’m due to speak at 12:45. If you are around, please say hello! I’ll spend the following few days in Toronto, and then will be back to Montreal and, hopefully, to blogging.